Our Hay Festival Adventure 2014 - Part 2: Plastic and Pooches

Sadly Hay Festival ended - but what an amazing time we had! Yes, there was lots and lots of rain, but we had some great events and learnt a lot about books. In fact, the last two Templar authors gave great talks about the environment, animals and the First World War. 

Have you ever wanted to know where burgers and rubber ducks come from? Or the best way to recycle your rubbish? Christiane Dorion, author of  the fantastic How it Works series of books hosted a wonderful workshop with answers to this and so much more. 

From creative design where the audience was encouraged to draw something that could help the environment in the future to a fascinating talk about animals, how they survive and what we can do to protect them and their habitats. At the end of the event Christiane encouraged people to take a look at some of the exotic things she had brought along with her (including ivory tusks and leopard fur) which had been confiscated by customs at airports around the world for being illegal items. We all left the event feeling much more informed about what we can do to help preserve the wonderful planet we live on.

There are lots of stories about the bravery and loyalty of animals during wartime and throughout 2014 the UK is commemorating the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. Templar author Damian Kelleher’s event was in conversation with Megan Rix (Puffin). In a fascinating panel event they discussed the roles animals played during the war and what inspired them to write their own stories about this. During the event, we discovered that Damian’s new book A Dog in No-Man’s Land is inspired by true accounts he spent months researching at The Imperial War Museum archives and tells of an under-age soldier who rescues a stray dog in France and the bond that they shared. This was a really fascinating historical panel event that had a little bit of fun thrown in at the end as author Megan bought along her two super-cuddly golden retriever dogs!

SHOP How It Works HERE

SHOP Dog in No-Mans-Land HERE